French President Emmanuel Macron to get Red Arrows flypast on UK visit
Emmanuel Macron, the French President, will be welcomed to London tomorrow with a flypast of the Red Arrows.
Macron visits the UK tomorrow, marking 80 years since Second World War French resistance leader Charles de Gaulle made a historic broadcast to occupied France from British shores.
The Red Arrows, the RAF’s iconic aerobatics unit, will perform a flypast with French counterparts La Patrouille de France.
The Coldstream Guards, the oldest regiment in the British Army, will also form a ceremonial guard of honour.
Macron’s trip will involve a visit to the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall, marking the first major royal engagement since the coronavirus lockdown was imposed.
Charles and Camilla will meet the French President at their London home tomorrow.
It comes after both had to self-isolate in March after Charles, 71, contracted coronavirus.
Macron will be granted an exemption on the 14-day quarantine imposed on most people entering the UK, as a “representative of a foreign country on business”.
However, social distancing measures will be observed throughout the visit.
It will be Macron’s first trip abroad since the lockdown came into place.
The trip commemorates de Gaulle’s famous broadcast back to France, urging people to resist the German occupation of the country during the Second World War.
“I call upon all Frenchmen who want to remain free to listen to my voice and follow me,” he said.